"I won't stop you at all, Elise." Loriel looked at his wife with a loving smile. "Whatever it is that you want to do… I want to be there to support you as your husband. Whether you want to work in the company or do something else, I'll be with you."
"Thank you, Loriel." Elise pecked his lips and smiled broadly. "I'm relieved that you think that way. Unlike me, you had to live for fifteen centuries by yourself and may have stuck with some old ways. I was afraid that you'd still be a bit traditional in your way of thinking."
Loriel shook his head. "Those years made me realize and reflect on my actions, among those things, I realized that it's important for me to actually listen to what you want. I want our relationship to be stronger than before, so I've contemplated a lot."
Elise chuckled and kissed his cheek. "Those years truly have done a good thing for you… but I think there's someone else that you have to make it up to and not just myself."
Loriel's expression immediately changed as he realized who his wife was referring to. When he searched for his wife and realized that she was with a younger god to know about her true identity, Loriel only cared about telling the truth to Elise.
He wanted to be the one who told her. Loriel hadn't paid any attention to any other god whether it was Hilde or someone else because all that he was living for was to be reunited with Elise and make up for everything that he had done to her.
However, now that Loriel was aware that their second child had survived and was all grown up at over fifteen centuries old, he knew that there was a lot of work involved in reclaiming his title as a father.
Fatherhood was new to Loriel but he wanted to make it up to his son, Alexei. He nodded and looked at Elise. "...I know that he managed to get along with you. But, I'm a little nervous once he actually gets here."
"Because he spent over a thousand years wanting to kill you?" Elise raised a brow.
"That and because he grew up with Dante." Loriel sighed. "He might have been lied to and known the man as Dimitri, but it still means that there was a strong father figure in his life. It means that I have a lot to prove."
Loriel's own relationship with his father was so long ago that it almost felt like he had no frame of reference whatsoever.
Elise grabbed her husband's hand and squeezed it. "We'll all be going through this together, so don't worry too much about it. I'm sure that Alexei's also willing to get to know you."
"I know that I've chosen to listen to you Elise… but how are you so sure about this?" Loriel raised a brow.
"Well, he told me that he's going for a visit."
There was a knock on the door and Elise stood up from the couch with a smile. Pott and Pebble immediately started crawling out from their bed basket and headed for the door. Elise gushed excitedly, "I think that's him."
Loriel looked at Elise in shock, but before he could do or say anything, she opened the door and revealed his son. Alexei was standing awkwardly at the door and was all dressed up neatly and he even brought a small pot that held a small bonsai tree.
"Hey… mother." Alexei laughed sheepishly and presented it to Elise who accepted it with a smile and welcomed her son inside of the penthouse. "I brought you a tree instead of a bouquet because you might want to grow it."
"Thank you, Alexei. I was actually hoping that I could start a small garden here on the penthouse's balcony." Elise held the pot and looked at it warmly. "I appreciate the gift."
Alexei flashed a smile at Elise and nodded. The reason why he felt a certain attachment to her confused him before but now it all made sense, and yet there was someone else besides Elise and he coughed. "Is… my not-parent-killer here?"
Loriel raised a brow at the title and raised a hand. This kind of interaction between them was really unexpected because he was expecting his son to be more… reserved, and yet Alexei was talking about their past like it was nothing.
New and young gods were strange.
"I'm here?" Loriel said.
"Haha, there you are." Alexei chuckled and offered him a hand to which Loriel took and the two of them shook hands. "I wanted to come here earlier but I decided to finish some things and let you guys talk things out."
This kind of interaction wasn't so bad.
Loriel nodded his head in appreciation. "Thank you, I appreciate that you dropped by here for a visit. Alexei."
Would calling him son right away be strange? Loriel was a bit helplessly clueless.
Alexei took a deep breath and looked at Loriel in the eye. Even though he was the literal god of war, somehow, this interaction was a lot harder than literally walking through a battlefield.
"Sorry about trying to kill you two weeks ago, crazy times, and just found out that my parents are still alive and my guardian lied to me all this time… uh, do you want to hug it out?" he said.
"Hug it out?" Loriel was surprised.
Alexei slowly opened his arms and stepped forward to Loriel and grinned. "It's awkward but I believe a hug from my father isn't supposed to be strange, right? Or do you want to discuss sports? Er… I honestly don't know what your interests are besides my mother."
Loriel chuckled at his son's words and then threw his arms around the younger man and engulfed him with a hug. "We have a lot of time to discuss any shared interests—but, thank you for dropping by. I really mean it, son."
Elise looked at the two hugging and felt her heart touched at the sight.
She didn't think that she'd ever have a chance to see a reunion between father and son, but it filled her with joy and she couldn't help but add. "How about letting me join in this family hug too?"
.
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Alexei Dimitri Ashborn:
"Or do you want to discuss sports? Er… I honestly don't know what your interests are besides my mother."
Even his son knows how boring Loriel is. His one and only interest is his wife. XD
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